


Will You Dance With Me?

by courtneyyyliz



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: High School, M/M, ahh young reddie, brief appearances by their mothers, but modern, cause richie has a cellphone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24936484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtneyyyliz/pseuds/courtneyyyliz
Summary: Richie works up the nerve to ask Eddie to dance.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	Will You Dance With Me?

Richie was sitting on the bleachers in the gym, trying (for once in his life) not to stick out too much. He played with his hands, looking around at his classmates dancing and laughing with each other. He felt so out of place. He couldn’t relate to these people at all; except for one person: Eddie Kaspbrak.

Richie found it funny that of all of the people at their school, he related to Eddie the most, simply for the fact that they were polar opposites. Richie was loud, obnoxious and crude. Eddie was quiet, polite and studious.

  
Usually, Richie would find someone who cares so much about school work and grades annoying, but Richie has had a crush on Eddie for years now. It started when the two were put together for an English project. They got together after school one day at Eddie’s house; that’s when he first met Eddie’s mother. The woman was overbearing and treated Eddie like a child, even though he was fifteen years old.

  
They worked on their project at the kitchen table under her watchful eye. She would make trips back and forth from her chair in the family room, to the kitchen to make sure Eddie was breathing. Everytime she passed the kitchen table, she’d stare daggers at Richie.

  
Richie could tell that Eddie was nervous, but also that he couldn’t stop smiling. “Are you alright? What are you so giddy about?” Richie asked him, as they finished up their project.

  
Eddie blushed. “It’s just,” he started, “I don’t really have friends over. I guess to have them over, I’d have to have friends,” he said, hanging his head.

  
Richie’s heart broke. Eddie was the kindest person he had ever met. “Well, we’re friends, aren’t we?” he asked.

  
Eddie’s head shot up, a smile blossoming on his face. “Yeah,” he said shyly. “We are.”

  
And that was it; from that day on, Richie was enthralled with Eddie. They became fast friends. Mrs. Kaspbrak didn’t approve of this new friendship, so they hung out mostly at Richie’s house, under the guise of Eddie being at the library.

  
Eddie was the first one Richie told when he finally figured out his sexuality. They were laying on Richie’s bed, looking through a comic book. Telling Eddie had been weighing on his mind for a while now, he just didn’t know how to tell him or when. He also didn’t want it to be obvious to Eddie that Richie had a crush on him; he was still figuring that out.

  
Sitting here, looking at Eddie, Richie just couldn’t take it anymore and blurted out “I like boys too!” and quickly clamped his hand over his mouth.

  
Eddie put down the comic book and looked at Richie with a shy smirk. “What was that?” he asked.

Richie couldn’t stop the blush from spreading over his entire body. He took in a deep breath and looked at Eddie. “I like girls, but I also like boys. I’m sorry I kept this from you, it’s something that I’ve been trying to figure out for a while.”

  
Eddie paused and finally placed his hand on Richie’s arm. “Rich, you don’t have to apologize to me, or to anyone. You do these things on your own time and you shouldn’t let anyone make you feel bad for when you decide to come out or not,” he finished, giving Richie a smile. “But I am happy that you trusted me enough to tell me.”

  
“You’re my best friend,” Richie breathed out, relieved that Eddie had taken this news so well.

  
Eddie smiled bigger. “And you’re mine,” he replied. He pulled Richie into a hug. Richie felt a weight fall off of his shoulders as he wrapped his arms around Eddie.

  
When they pulled back, Eddie became shy. “Since we’re being honest, I should tell you that I…” he started and bowed his head.

  
“You can tell me anything, Eddie Spaghetti,” Richie teased.

  
Eddie smiled and looked at Richie. “You know I hate that nickname.” Richie giggled.

  
“You love it.” Eddie rolled his eyes.

  
“Anyways, I wanted to tell you that I like boys. Just boys. I’m gay,” he whispered.

  
Richie threw his arms around Eddie, surprising him. “I’m so proud of you, Eds. Thank you for telling me.”

  
The two held onto each other tightly for a couple of minutes and when they let go, Richie saw Eddie wiping away some tears. “Eds?” Richie asked.

  
Eddie wiped his hands over his face. “You can’t tell anyone, Rich. Especially not my mom. She would never forgive me if she found out.”

  
Richie looked at Eddie and could feel the fear radiating off of the other boy. “Your secret is safe with me, my dear spaghetti man!” Eddie laughed.

  
Richie reached up and wiped away one last tear from his face. “Thanks, Richie.”

  
After that night, things started to change between them. Richie felt shyer all of the sudden around Eddie. Eddie’s gaze would linger longer on Richie when he thought the other boy wasn’t looking.

When word of the dance came around, Richie wanted to ask Eddie to go with him, as his official date. He tried several times, but chickened out every time. In the end, not much was said, they just quietly decided to meet there as friends.

  
Eddie was over at the refreshment table, getting some punch. Richie had been trying to work up the courage to ask Eddie to dance since they arrived. He’d awkwardly turned to Eddie several times, only to lose the nerve, turn away, and leave Eddie confused.

  
Eddie had been talking with a classmate for a couple of minutes now. Richie couldn’t help but stare at him. He was the most beautiful person he’d ever met. He was so kind, gentle, sassy and strong, and Richie was constantly in awe of this person that he got to call his best friend.

  
Overwhelmed with love for Eddie, Richie stood up from his place on the bleachers and marched over to where Eddie was refilling his cup of punch. He stopped short in front of him, and looked at him with panic in his eyes. Eddie looked up at him with such concern.

  
“Rich, what’s up with you tonight? You’ve been acting so strange!” he exclaimed.

  
Richie flushed, shoulders slumping. He looked at Eddie and saw nothing but concern in his eyes. “Will you dance with me?” he asked quietly.

  
Richie could tell that Eddie was not expecting this question. He looked at Richie, unsure of what to say.

  
Richie felt an overwhelming sense of shame. He looked at Eddie once more, turned around and stormed off towards the doors of the gym. He felt so humiliated. How could he think that Eddie would want him like that?

  
Richie pulled his phone out of his pocket, pulling up his mother’s number to ask her to come pick him up. Just as he was about to tap on her name, he heard the door’s of the gym slam and heard his name being yelled.

  
“Rich! Wait, please stop!” Eddie yelled. “Richie, wait!” Richie stopped in his tracks.

  
As embarrassed as he was, he couldn’t ignore Eddie’s pleas. He stood in the hallway with his phone in his hands. He didn’t look up until Eddie reached him.

  
Eddie placed his hands on Richie’s shoulders, trying to get him to look at him. “Rich,” he started. “Please look at me.”

  
“I’m so embarrassed,” Richie mumbled, shuffling his feet. He still couldn’t meet Eddie’s eyes.

  
“Richie,” Eddie stated, putting his hand on Richie’s cheek, guiding his face up so Richie would finally look him in the eyes. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I’m the one who should be. I shouldn’t have let you walk out like that, when you were clearly upset.”

  
“Eds,” Richie said, quickly being cut off by Eddie.

  
“No, stop right there. Let me just explain myself. Can we go sit?” Eddie gestured to the bench across from the doors.

  
Eddie took Richie’s hand and led him over to the benches, keeping hold of his hand when they took a seat. “I was surprised by your question,” Eddie explained. “Maybe surprised isn’t the right word; I thought I was imagining it.” Richie looked up at Eddie confused. “I’ve liked you for so long now, Rich. Even before we came out to each other, I had a crush on you. But I never thought that you’d have the same feelings for me that I do for you. So when you asked me to dance, I first thought that I was imagining it. And then when I realized that I wasn’t dreaming, I thought maybe you were playing a joke on me, and I felt hurt. But when I saw your face before you turned and ran, I knew that you were serious and I felt horrible.”

  
Eddie pulled Richie’s hands into his lap. “Rich, you’re my best friend and my favorite person. I would love nothing more than to dance with you now, if you still want me.”

  
Richie stared at Eddie with tears in his eyes. “Eds, you have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to hear you say that. I’ve liked you for a long time,” Richie told him, shyly.

  
Eddie stood up and held his hand out to Richie. “Can I have this dance?”

  
Richie grabbed his hand and let Eddie lead him to the middle of the hallway, where they swayed along to the song coming from the gym.

  
When Richie’s mom came to pick him up later on, he couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face.

  
“Did you have a good time, Rich?” she asked, noticing his happiness.

  
“The best, mom.”


End file.
